Education takes a new path every year or second or so. Some years the theme is reading. Some it is science. Technology has been at the forefront for several years. Behavior keeps rearing its' ugly head and getting shoved to the back of the line. Giving everyone a piece of candy and a trophy is all the rage. Still.
Requiring teenagers to pick a career path was someone's brain child a few years ago. I really thought it would die a silent death, but it continues. Why? I can't figure it out. Nothing is farther from sane than asking a 12 year to tell you what they want to do for the rest of their life. I know there are some kids who know from birth what they want to do, but the majority of teenagers don't have a clue.
How many college students change their major? Statistics say that about 80% of college students will change their major at least once. So, if 80% of our middle school students are likely to change their minds about their career, following this new career path trend, they will have only taken classes that would prepare them for their career choice. They made this decision, not when they were in college, or even high school. They made the decision in middle school. Does that make sense? Not only is this ridiculous, it is unfair to our students. By limiting their experience, we are limiting their choices.
Every time I hear that a school is moving toward a career path model I cringe. How far will this go before education jumps to a new path? And how many kids will be left stranded in the middle? How many kids will have to take extra steps to prepare for their new career choice?
What can I do about it? What will I do about it? This is it. Making people aware. Hoping that someone else will read this and question this practice. Hoping that someone will talk to kids and parents and dig deeper. What most do not realize is that teachers long to have a voice, but for years (longer than I can count) our voices have been silenced. We want to help make decisions that affect our kids. We want to weigh in on educational practices. We want to be treated as professionals that know what we are talking about.
Maybe, just maybe, that will be a new trend ...
Help improve reading skills with this seasonal resource!
Share TpT for Schools with your U.S. administrator to take advantage of a special $25 offer for all U.S. schools that join. Once your administrator signs up your school (it’s free to register!), they’ll receive $25 to spend on resources. Find out how to share more information about TpT for Schools with your administrator: bit.ly/tpt-schools
Requiring teenagers to pick a career path was someone's brain child a few years ago. I really thought it would die a silent death, but it continues. Why? I can't figure it out. Nothing is farther from sane than asking a 12 year to tell you what they want to do for the rest of their life. I know there are some kids who know from birth what they want to do, but the majority of teenagers don't have a clue.
How many college students change their major? Statistics say that about 80% of college students will change their major at least once. So, if 80% of our middle school students are likely to change their minds about their career, following this new career path trend, they will have only taken classes that would prepare them for their career choice. They made this decision, not when they were in college, or even high school. They made the decision in middle school. Does that make sense? Not only is this ridiculous, it is unfair to our students. By limiting their experience, we are limiting their choices.
Every time I hear that a school is moving toward a career path model I cringe. How far will this go before education jumps to a new path? And how many kids will be left stranded in the middle? How many kids will have to take extra steps to prepare for their new career choice?
What can I do about it? What will I do about it? This is it. Making people aware. Hoping that someone else will read this and question this practice. Hoping that someone will talk to kids and parents and dig deeper. What most do not realize is that teachers long to have a voice, but for years (longer than I can count) our voices have been silenced. We want to help make decisions that affect our kids. We want to weigh in on educational practices. We want to be treated as professionals that know what we are talking about.
Maybe, just maybe, that will be a new trend ...
Help improve reading skills with this seasonal resource!
Share TpT for Schools with your U.S. administrator to take advantage of a special $25 offer for all U.S. schools that join. Once your administrator signs up your school (it’s free to register!), they’ll receive $25 to spend on resources. Find out how to share more information about TpT for Schools with your administrator: bit.ly/tpt-schools
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